About this Research Topic
Asia Pacific region is nowadays home to variety of dynamic economies consisting of a lion share of world’s economic activity and stock exchange. The upcoming 4.0 Industrial revolution is setting the stage for accelerated development in all spheres of life. This means that densely populated coastal areas of East China, Japan and ASEAN economies shall continue to experience massive rural-urban migrations. The fact that East Asia is already at the forefront of global technological development is clearly documented with evidenced leadership in many areas ranging from advanced cell-phone networks up to cosmic technology. Given the spreading of accelerated population aging throughout the region, advances in medical technology become particularly sensitive area of civilizational development. This is happening due to the fact that traditional family caregiving for the elderly citizens suffering from noncommunicable diseases is now threatened to become insufficient due to low fertility levels. Less youth is there to support shrinking labor force and ever growing share of the retired citizens. At the same time, medical robotics has not advanced yet to the stage to deliver comprehensive home-based medical care to those in need. Innovative pharmaceuticals are extending human longevity worldwide with globally leading life expectancy increases in Asia Pacific region. Increased living standards are leading to higher expectations and ever growing demand for complex and expensive healthcare. For all these reasons innovation in medical care and pharmaceutical technology becomes a bottleneck efficiency challenge for the long-term sustainability of East Asian health systems as we approach middle of XXI century. This Topic aims to attract submissions that might give up to the challenge and cover some possible gaps in knowledge in this area. Contributions across all types of Frontiers designated sorts of articles are welcomed.
Keywords: Asia-Pacific, Innovation, Pharmaceutical Industry, Medical Devices, Technology, 4.0 Industrial Revolution, Universal Health Coverage, Health Insurance, Health Expenditure, Pharmaceutical Expenditure, Developing countries, Health Care Cost, Medical Care
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
